Review of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Dougl Essays

Review of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Dougl Essays Review of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass was born in Tuckahoe, Maryland, near Hillsborough. He doesnt know for sure of his age, he has seen no proof and his master will not inform him. Most masters prefer for their slaves to stay ignorant. He believes that he was around twenty-seven and twenty-eight when he began writing his narrative - he overheard his master say he was about seventeen years of age during 1835. His mother, Harriet Bailey, was separated from him when he was an infant and she died when he was seven years old. Fredericks father was a white man who could have been his master but he never found out. Education was of utmost importance in his life. He received his first lesson while living with Mr. and Mrs. Auld. Sophia Auld, Fredericks "mistress", was very humane to him and spent time teaching him the A, B, Cs. After he mastered this, she assisted him in spelling three and four letter words. At this point in his lesson Mr. Auld encountered what his wife was doing for Frederick and forbid her to continue. He believed that "if you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell" and continuing with "learning would spoil the best nigger in the world". The masters felt that an ignorant slave formed a choice slave and any beneficial learning would damage the slave and therefore be futile to his master. His next step on the road to success was during his seven years living with Master Hughs family. Frederick would make friends with as many white boys as he possibly could on the street. His new friends would be transformed into teachers. When he could, Frederick carried bread on him as a means of trade to the famished kids for knowledge. He would also carry a book anytime he had an errand to run. The errand would be completed quickly, allowing extra study time. When Frederick was working in Durgin and Baileys ship-yard he would notice timber marked with various letters. He soon discovered how the letters matched the type of wood and the names of these letters. Any boy he met that could write he would challenge them to a writing contest. Frederick would use the letters he recently learned and told the child to challenge that. He then copied the Italics in Websters Spelling Book until he knew them well. All this hard work and years of practice gave Frederick the knowledge to write. After his relocation to Mr. Freeland, who was the owner of two slaves, Frederick devoted his Sundays teaching these two and other slaves how to read. Frederick heard the word abolitionists a few times but it wasnt for a while until he found out what it meant. If a slave succeeded in escaping from his Master or performing a radical action such as burning a barn or killing his Master, it was considered to be a form of abolition. One day while running an errand, Frederick ran into two Irishmen hard at work. Frederick assisted the Irishmen and soon after they asked if he was a slave. The men then advised Frederick to run away to the north to find friends and freedom. Ever since this encounter he has dreamed of the day he could safely escape. An attempt to carry out his dreams surfaced during his stay with Master Thomas. He did not attempt to escape, however he regrets not doing so since the chances of succeeding are ten times greater from the city than from the country. Anthony, one of Fredericks two masters, was not a humane slaveholder. Frederick was awakened habitually by the sounds of his own aunt being whipped repeatedly because she was caught away for the evening with a man. Slaves, when unhappy, sing songs to help drown their sorrow. Frederick would often sing for this purpose, and not to express his happiness as some slaves also do. The men and women slaves received eight pounds of pork or fish and one bushel of corn meal monthly. On a yearly basis, they received very little along the lines of clothing. The children unable to work in the field were given two shirts per year. If they happen to wear out, the children would have to go naked until the next year. No beds were supplied, only coarse blankets. Master Thomas would not even give a sufficient amount of food to eat, which was usually mush (coarse boiled corn meal). This